Dyana said, "I don't feel hurt by the 'penghianat' (traitor) label", despite facing some harsh criticisms from the Malay community. In June 2013, she and 2 colleagues from the DAPGelang Patah parliamentary office were chased out by a village penghulu, when they went to attend to a complaint from some Malay residents at the village on behalf of Lim Kit Siang, regarding their land status. "When we reached there, the village chief came to meet us and pulled my hand and asked me to go back. He pointed right at my face and said, 'we have our Menteri Besar and we don't need you'." Dyana said.

2.Brief biography: Born in Ipoh, Perak into a family that is still very active in UMNO, Dyana Sofya obtained her law degree from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Interestingly, one of the her reasons for joining the Democratic Action Party (DAP) was her experience in UiTM, the sole university in the country which is exclusive to bumiputera. "While I managed to get into UiTM, some of my (non-bumiputera) friends who had similar results were not accepted into public universities. They couldn't get any scholarship. "So I think that's not fair. What would happen to my friends? Do they have to spend a lot of money to get into the private university?" she asked.

Dyana Sofya: From UMNO supporter roots to DAP rising star(Uploaded by malaysiakini on 2 September 2013)

Looking back at her experience in UiTM, Dyana opined that a public higher education similar to UiTM should be established for non-Malays. She was disappointed that some of her non-Malay friends, regardless of whether they had good results, were denied the opportunity to further their studies at public higher education institutes. "The non-Malays should have equal opportunity as Malays. A higher education institute that accepts the enrollment of non-Malays but at the same time only charges the same amount as UiTM is necessary." Dyana believes that the time is ripe for the education system in Malaysia to go beyond racial lines and, instead, be based on needs.

As of 2013, Dyana's mother is a first-division secretary for Wanita UMNO, while her uncles are also active in UMNO politics. Dyana said that her mother is understanding and blessed her choice to become a DAP member. "She said that if we believe in something, we should go ahead and do it, that sometimes it is good for us to swim against the tide in order to make a statement".